Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson was compiled by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by Wendell Minor. The story is about Rachel Carson. She was a very curious girl who loved being outside, taking walks with her mother, and naming the insects and birds. Rachel had a lifelong dream of protecting the nature that she loved so much. After years of research, Rachel wrote a book titled Silent Spring which changed the world. The book warned about the dangers of poisons that were everywhere.
Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson is a great example of a non-fiction biography. According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 18, it explains that nonfiction books are informational sources that explain a subject. It also further explains that biography tells about a real person’s life. This book is a very good example of a non-fiction biography in that it explains a person’s life by giving information. The illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful watercolor paintings of places Rachel visited or loved to visit. They are very vividly painted and include great detail.
The book is recommended for ages 5 and up. I think a child at the age of 5 would not really understand this book. I think it really would be better for children 7-8 and up.
If you were going to be presenting this book in a classroom setting, I would suggest including these activities to really bring the book to life:
1. Design a diorama for either an eco park or an eco system and display them in the classroom.
2. Have the students write a biography but include what they would do to change the world they live in today. This might include things like inventing or saving something, not a super hero or something of that nature.
READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:
1. If you had access to all the resources how would you deal with the problem of poisons in the world?
2. How would you feel if you were Rachel Carson but no one listened to you when you wrote a book about poisons on the earth?
3. What do you think about Rachel Carson and her discovery?
REFERENCES:
Ehrlich, A. (2003). Rachel: The story of rachel carson. New York, NY: Harcourt, Inc.
Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.
Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson book club guide. Retrieved from www.lywam.org/education/WendellMinorGuide.pdf
2 comments:
I love that this book deals with the envirnment and touches base on the outdoors because many children all over just love to be outside. I think a great activity with young children could range from having them plant a class tree and spending time throughout the school year watching it progress, creating a small classroom garden like a window garden or a slighly bigger one, and the children take up the responsibilities to nurture it and get to see it grow, they can even write a short paper on what they expect to happen. Another great idea would be to have them take part in a trash pic up day that can teach them that the world is everyone's responsibility and we equally share to clean it up. They could also take the ideas of the environment and draw a picture of their family tree!
Sable, these are awesome classroom activities to apply to this book. Thank you so much for the ideas. I will definitely add them to my collection!
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